PayPal Reveals Payment App for Samsung's Redesigned Smartwatch

PayPal will allow users of Samsung's newly announced smartwatches to check in at PayPal merchants and execute transactions at their stores.

The new PayPal App will also allow users of the Samsung wearable computing watch, called Gear 2, to save and redeem offers, send money to an acquaintance in real time and receive payment notifications, PayPal announced Feb. 24.

PayPal already has a relationship with Samsung, providing a payments option for Samsung Apps and Samsung Hub, and is a payout option for Samsung Apps developers. EBay, PayPal's parent, in 2013 launched an app for the first Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

PayPal is ramping up its shopping technology as it looks to build an in-store presence. The new PayPal smartwatch app, which will be available to Samsung users in April when the new Gear watches go on sale, will add more merchants and a number of other shopping functions to the previous Samsung Gear relationship.

PayPal also recently introduced Bluetooth Low Energy beacons as a way to combine check-in with special offers and payments while in stores.

"This year, we'll announce new innovations across the mobile ecosystem that further extend PayPal's presence and remove friction from the payments process," says Hill Ferguson, vice president of global product at PayPal, in the company's blog post.

PayPal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.